SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – North Dakota State was selected at the top of the Summit League men’s basketball preseason poll, while South Dakota State junior Joe Sayler was tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year, league officials announced Tuesday. The voting panel included the League’s eight head coaches, sports information directors and select media members. 
 
The Bison won both the regular season and tournament championship a season ago, earned 13 first-place votes after qualifying for their first NCAA Tournament since 2020. NDSU edged out St. Thomas after earning 13 first place votes and 418 points. 

The Tommies, who have finished second in consecutive seasons, corralled 11 first-place votes and tallied 410 points in what was one of the closest margins between the top two spots in the poll’s history. 
 
South Dakota State, who is under the direction of second-year head coach Bryan Petersen, was picked to finish third. The Jackrabbits earned seven first-place votes and 396 points. 
 
Omaha was pegged fourth with 296 points and the final first place vote, while South Dakota was just behind the Mavericks in the poll’s middle spot, taking fifth with 240 points. 
 
North Dakota took sixth with 187 points after reaching the Summit League championship game last season. Oral Roberts was seventh with 183 points and Kansas City, under the direction of first-year head coach Mark Turgeon, took eighth with 127 points.  

Sayler led all returners with 17.9 points per game while knocking down 41 3-pointers at a 47.1 percent clip. The junior also averaged 3.4 rebounds per game and dished out 33 assists. The White River, S.D., native started 32 games last year. 

The Tommies were the only team with a trio of players on the preseason all-league first team as sharp-shooting forward Carter Bjerke joined Austin Herro and Kendall Blue. Bjerke shot 53 percent from 3-point range and was tied for third among Summit League players with 44 makes in Summit play. 

Joining Sayler and the Tommie trio on the preseason first team was Oral Roberts guard Connor Dow and Andy Stefonowicz. 
 
Dow knocked down 81 3-pointers throughout last season, the most among returners, while averaging 13.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Stefonowicz led the League with 4.8 assists per game and was second with a 2.3 assist/turnover ratio.  

The all-preseason second team was comprised of the South Dakota State duo of Jesse Van Kalsbeek and Kalen Garry along with Omaha’s Grant Stubblefield, South Dakota’s Vince Buzelis, and Kansas City’s Jaylen Smith. 
 
Van Kalsbeek was the NAIA National Player of the year after averaging 27.8 points and 12.4 rebounds per game at Northwestern (Iowa). Smith averaged 9.1 points per game en route to SoCon Sixth Man of the Year honors. Garry was a Preseason All-Summit League First Team member in 2025-26 

Points for the preseason poll were compiled on a 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, while all-league teams were compiled on an 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The top six vote-getters earned first-team honors and the next five were selected to the second team. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes or team. 

2026-27 Preseason Summit League Player of the Year 
Joe Sayler, South Dakota State* 
 
Preseason All-Summit League First Team 
Kendall Blue, St. Thomas, Gr., G (0.9 ppg)^ 
Carter Bjerke, St. Thomas, Gr., F (10.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg)# 
Connor Dow, Oral Roberts, Sr. G (13.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg) 
Austin Herro, St. Thomas, Sr. G (6.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.5 apg)# 
Joe Sayler, South Dakota State, Jr., G (17.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg)# 
Andy Stefonowicz, North Dakota State, Jr., G (9.2 ppg, 5.1 apg)# 
 
Preseason All-Summit League Second Team 
Vince Buzelis, South Dakota, So., G (9.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg) 
Kalen Garry, South Dakota State, Sr., G (10.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg)# 
Jaylen Smith, Kansas City, Sr., G (8.1 ppg, 2.8 apg)@ 
Grant Stubblefield, Omaha, Sr., G (10.8 ppg, 3.8 apg) 
Jesse Van Kalsbeek, South Dakota State, Jr. F (27.0 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 4.8 apg)$ 
 
*Preseason Player of the Year automatically earns a spot on first team 
#stats are from 2025-26 Summit League games 
@stats are from 2025-26 SoCon games 
^stats are from 2025-26 Big Ten Conference games 
$stats are from 2025-26 Great Plains Athletic Conference games 
 
2026-27 Summit League Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll 

Rank	School	Points (1st)	2025-26 Record (SL)
1.	North Dakota State	418(13)	24-10 (13-3)
2.	St. Thomas	410 (11)	22-13 (12-4)
3.	South Dakota State	396(7)	20-12 (11-5)
4.	Omaha	296 (1)	21-11 (10-6)
5.	South Dakota	240	19-14 (9-7)
6.	North Dakota	194	13-20 (4-12)
7.	Oral Roberts	183	12-21 (5-11)
8.	Kansas City	127	7-23 (3-13)

  
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